The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has exerted a great deal of control over world-wide oil production and prices since 1960.1 The figure below shows the percentage of oil production by country for 2015. OPEC member nations made up 42 percent of world oil production, giving their production announcements significant weight. Historically, announcements from OPEC regarding future decreases in production have been accompanied by increases in prices.2 OPEC and Russia Agree to Cut Production Late in 2016, OPEC and Russia agreed to cut production from 33.24 million barrels per day to between 32.5 and ... (full story)